Ronald Reagan and the Force of Freedom
“We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but
when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted.”
~Ronald Reagan, July 17, 1980
“The United States and other free nations must be strong if they are to remain free.
Communist imperialism has shown itself ready to seize nations
which do not have the strength to resist.”
~Harry Truman, June 1, 1950
“We must be the arsenal of democracy.”
~Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 29, 1940
And we thought the Soviet Union had been swept into the dust bin of history.
Almost 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is witnessing a resurgence of Russian aggression,
seemingly undeterred by the current administration. Can our Allies depend on us for anything other than Coca Cola
or Harley-Davidsons?
© 2014 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
More than 30 years ago, the Soviet Union brutally invaded Afghanistan while Iranian radicals took
66 Americans hostage. For those of us who lived through those years, today’s news rings eerily familiar, warning
us what happens when good people do nothing. The world is in crisis. While Lady Liberty’s torch has been reduced
to simmer and the heat is raging throughout the world, Russian forces have seized the Ukraine, characterized as
“cynical and outrageous exploitation” by the New York Times. It seems America’s foreign policy has stumbled in its
capacity to promote and defend democracy. As Dr. Condoleezza Rice asked, “Where does America stand?”
So what changed in 1981? How did Ronald Reagan establish a game plan, exactly how did the 40th
President send a message to Moscow that “there was new management in the White House, ” and what took place
in 1981 that made the Soviets realize he meant business? How did his first year define a strategy that gave America
the momentum to be a force for freedom over the following seven years?
“We win; they lose,” president-elect Reagan joked when asked how he would end the Cold War.
“The crisis we face is not the… failure of the American spirit; it is a failure of our leaders to establish
rational goals and give our people something to order their lives by.”
~Ronald Reagan, November 1979
Historic Precedence
Ronald Reagan was a student of history. He liked Harry Truman’s reminder in 1950 to “Put them on the
defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.” Looking further back, Reagan believed George Washington wasn’t
kidding when he said, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” And when
Thomas Jefferson created West Point, he wasn’t doing it for grins. From James Monroe to Theodore Roosevelt who
suggested “speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far,” Americans wish peace, but we want the peace of
justice, the peace of righteousness.
Recall these ideas:
© 2014 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
~Thomas Jefferson
“The Soviet Union does understand strength. We arm to parley, Winston Churchill said ten years ago.
If we are strong…it’s important that we maintain our determination here; that we indicate that we’re
building our strength; that we are determined to protect our position; that we’re determined to protect
our commitment. And then I believe we should indicate our desire to live at peace with the world. But until
we’re strong here, until we’re moving here,
I believe a summit could not be successful.”
~John F. Kennedy, October 1, 1960
“If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers,
clients, or even government,
recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he’ll eat you last.”
~Ronald Reagan, October 1964, A Time for Choosing
1981 - New Management
Where did President Reagan’s crusade for freedom begin? The first year was critical. On January 28, 1981,
during the President’s first press conference, Sam Donaldson of ABC News put it to the president.
Q. Mr. President, what do you see as the long-range intentions of the Soviet Union? Do you think, for
instance, the Kremlin is bent on world domination that might lead to a continuation of the cold war, or do you
think that under other circumstances detente is possible?
The President. Well, so far detente’s been a one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue
its own aims. I don’t have to think of an answer as to what I think their intentions are; they have repeated it. I
know of no leader of the Soviet Union since the revolution, and including the present leadership, that has not
more than once repeated in the various Communist congresses they hold their determination that their goal
must be the promotion of world revolution and a one-world Socialist or Communist state, whichever word you
want to use.
Now, as long as they do that and as long as they, at the same time, have openly and publicly declared
that the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause, meaning they reserve unto themselves
the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat, in order to attain that, and that is moral, not immoral,
and we operate on a different set of standards, I think when you do business with them, even at a
detente, you keep that in mind.
The President’s candor was unappreciated and the media had a field day. Who is this Neanderthal? A
Washington Post editorial noted with disdain, that there was an “indiscriminate quality of some of the things being
said.” Days later, Walter Cronkite told Reagan that the President’s views seemed too “hard line toward the Soviet
Union” and “there are some who . . . feel that you might have overdone the rhetoric a little bit in laying into the
Soviet leadership as being liars and thieves, et cetera.”
Undeterred and unapologetic, the President forged on. He proposed a budget and an economic recovery
package that included a military build-up. “When John F. Kennedy was President, defense spending as a share of
the Federal budget was 70 percent greater than it is today,” the President told us. “Since then, the Soviet Union
has carried on the most massive military buildup the world has ever seen. Until they are willing to join the rest of
the world community, we must maintain the strength to deter their aggression.”
© 2014 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
During 1981, the Reagan Administration reopened arms negotiations with the Russians in Geneva but “made
virtually no progress blocked by the refusal of the Soviets to end their subversion of democratic governments, their
continuing aggressing in Afghanistan, and their resistance to the zero zero plan I proposed in November 1981 to
eliminate intermediate-range missiles from Europe.” The Soviets would not remove the SS-20 missiles they had
aimed at European cities, so President Reagan made clear his intention to deploy Pershing II and cruise missiles in
Europe to counter the threat.
Beyond the military build-up, beyond the economic recovery program, beyond President Reagan’s resolve
to make Americans feel good about themselves, a few more things took place that made the Soviets take notice
that our 40th president was a man of his word.
It was August 3, 1981 when the White House received word that the Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Organization (PATCO) would strike, paralyzing the nation’s air travel, and violating its contract which specifically
prohibited strikes. It was the President’s first national emergency and in a show of good faith, Reagan gave the
controllers 48 hours to return to work. If they didn’t they would lose their jobs.
On August 5, President Reagan fired over 13,000 strikers, showing he would uphold the rule of law and stick
to his decisions, regardless of how unpopular they might be.
The Soviets got the message that there “was new management in the White House.” And it had nothing to
do with foreign policy. His forceful handling of the PATCO walkout impressed the Soviets, strengthening his hand in
the talks he later pursued with Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
The year wasn’t over and another opportunity to stand firm with freedom presented itself in Poland. By
December 1981, the Polish Government had violated commitments to the UN Charter, the Helsinki accords and
the Gdansk agreement which recognized the basic right of its people to form free trade unions and to strike. By
imposing martial law and imprisoning Solidarity leaders, the Polish Government essentially waged war against its
own people. Factories, mines, universities, and homes were assaulted.
In honor of their plight, President Reagan requested that on Christmas Eve a lighted candle burn in
the White House window as “a small but certain beacon of our solidarity with the Polish people.” The Vatican’s
Secretary of State, Agostino Cardinal Casaroli traveled to Washington, D.C. on December 15, 1981 to convey his
message that “I, and others, consider the United States the sanctuary for the future of the world.” In June 1982,
President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II forming a “holy alliance” as they proclaimed overt and unashamed
support for the anti-communist revolution.
“We, the people of the free world, stand as one
with our Polish brothers and sisters. Their cause is ours.”
~Ronald Reagan, December 23, 1981
Further, President Reagan declared equally worthy all resistance to communism whether foreign or
indigenously imposed. Economic sanctions were imposed. His strategy to assist Polish Freedom fighters began with
a barrage of measures aimed at the Soviet-backed regime in Poland to provide Solidarity with money, literature,
and electronic and communications equipment. Lech Walesa said later that the Solidarity movement in Poland
would not have survived without American help, overt and covert. Asked for example how important Radio Free
Europe had been, he replied, “Would there be earth without the sun?”
And so 1981 concluded, protected by a policy of peace through strength which reverberated throughout
the next eight years culminating in the dissolution of a vast Communist empire. America was once again a force for
freedom.
Has such wisdom been overlooked today as struggling democracies are manipulated and manhandled by
those who seek to undermine freedom across the globe?
© 2014 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. All Rights Reserved.